The Secret Weapon
by Cyn V
Summary: Iwa decides that the time has come to get revenge on Konoha for the events of the Third Shinobi World War. In the process, they reveal a terrible weapon that had been kept secret for years.
1. Recalled

**A/N: I will see this story through, but d****on't expect frequent updates. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Kishimoto, not me.**

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**01: Recalled**

Naruto had been dismayed when, three weeks into their training trip, Jiraiya had returned to their room carrying a sack full of rubber balloons. They had been staying in some town enjoying a festival, just like the first time the thirteen-year-old had been introduced to those frustrating training aides - but, unlike then, the blond had not taken in the sight quite as enthusiastically. The occupants of that small inn had gotten an earful of a very upset teenager shouting about some "lazy perverted hermit" that night.

As his mind wandered back to that occasion, Naruto had no trouble popping the rubber balloon in his hand. He barely noticed the burning pain of the condensed chakra in contact with his skin and he almost didn't have to worry about making the energy swirl. His thoughts were so convoluted that his yellow chakra naturally formed as a reflection of that state. The little purple-striped ball didn't stand a chance: it wobbled and shuddered and seized in eccentric spasms, before surrendering to the young ninja and ripping itself to shreds.

The burst of cool air pushed aside the sweaty hair from Naruto's face. It felt pleasant in the hot and moist forest weather and it did wonders to soothe his aggravation. Dispassionately, he cast aside the remnants of one more failed attempt at the exercise - the balloon was supposed to remain intact - and allowed himself a short break to recover.

As always, Jiraiya had taken a seat against a tree in the clearing where they had stopped for lunch and practice this time, scribbling away into one of his many notebooks while generally ignoring his student's (lack of) progress.

"Oi, you lazy pervert! When are you going to teach me something new? I already know how to make the Rasengan! You're wasting my time," the thirteen-year-old blond yelled.

The white-haired ninja took a while to reply, but when he did, it came in his usual gravelly tone: "I'll teach you something new when you learn to do it right, brat."

He never bothered to glance up at his overly enthusiastic charge, which made his answer all the worse.

On any other day, Naruto would have retorted angrily - "then drop your perverted book and get over here!" - but the blond was feeling too tired to do anything other than drop on his back and lie down to rest.

The sound of Jiraiya's pen scratching paper mixed with the background of forest life and rocked him to near sleep. Leaves rustled as a mild summer breeze swept by, bringing with it the chirps of some foreign birds Naruto had never heard and the pitter-patter of agile squirrel paws as they raced across the treetops. The genin let himself relax and would have stayed like that longer if his teacher hadn't snapped his little notebook shut.

Naruto sat up, wondering if the toad summoner was about to approach him in one of his rare teaching moods. When he looked over to the man, though, he could not say that he was surprised to see him walking in the other direction, towards the centre of the clearing. The white-haired man was lifting an arm to the sky.

Naruto watched as a greyish brown hawk swooped down to land gently on that arm.

"What is it?" he asked, forgetting all about rasengans and balloons in face of his curiosity.

Again, Jiraiya didn't answer right away. Instead, he unwrapped the little note that came attached to the bird's leg. His mouth had a natural tendency to frown when he was distracted like this, but Naruto got the feeling that the message was serious.

"Training time's over," he said. "We're going back to the village."

"Why? Did something happen?"

Jiraiya contemplated his student's open and eager expression. Despite all the years of training at the Ninja Academy to become an emotionless assassin and the numerous situations where he had been pitted against adversaries out for his blood, Naruto had managed to retain a very endearing innocence about him. Jiraiya would be sorry to see that quality leave him.

"Konoha is going to war."


	2. Reunion

**A/N: I was doing some math, and I just realised that I'm 5 reviews shy of a total of 300 for all the stories I've posted on this site. To show my appreciation to my readers, I was thinking of maybe taking up a request for a one-shot. If there's anything you guys would like to see written, just let me know and I'll see what I can do. ;)**

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**02: Reunion**

After Jiraiya's ominous proclamation, it seemed to Naruto that their return to Konoha was a bit anti-climactic.

The sun was shining and the ninja message-relaying birds were flying against the blue sky and sparse white clouds as usual. Off-duty ninja were wandering the streets and, since it was afternoon and they had finished up their classes for the day, the young genin-to-be were running about. They played and teased each other like on any normal day - and were often seen pestering the older generation into teaching them a trick or two to up-show some other kid in class who thought he was so cool.

Jiraiya sneaked a glance at his own charge when the begging of one particularly insistent nine-year-old reached his ears. The blond completely missed the implicit comparison and kept grinning in relief that home appeared to be exactly as they had left it.

Rising like a protective parent above the red-roofed houses stood their destination, the rounded Hokage Tower, as comfortingly white and red as ever. Just beyond it, multiple scaffolds partially obscured the rocky mountain wall that bore the carved effigies of the past village leaders. Tsunade's likeness was still under construction.

Inexperienced as he was, Naruto failed to see the odd details that Jiraiya was keeping track of as they walked. ANBU, who were so rarely seen outside the Hokage Tower (when on assignment, they became virtually invisible), were openly patrolling the village walls and roofs and there was a noted increase on the number of ninja hanging around. They walked past a few foreign merchants as well, who were discussing the sale of products that the village had never used to import: Konoha was stocking supplies.

All of these things worried Jiraiya, who had seen enough wartime preparations to last him a lifetime and had hoped to never go through it again. The fact that Tsunade and the Council had only given the order to regroup discreetly at the village rather than to proceed to some target, though, was consoling in that it meant that the worst might yet be avoided.

Student and teacher followed a tense-looking Shizune into Tsunade's office and found the blonde Hokage sitting behind a desk surprisingly clear of paperwork and nursing a cup of sake. Also present was Kakashi.

"Good, you're here," greeted Tsunade. She bent towards one of her desk drawers to fetch an extra cup of sake for Jiraiya.

"Hey, granny, Kakashi-sensei! Is Konoha really going to war? Everything seems fine to me," Naruto asked casually. Tsunade immediately felt her headache worsening but, since her hands were busy, she didn't pound some sense into the short teenager.

Kakashi didn't share the same problem.

"I see you haven't changed, Naruto." He sighed. "Be more careful about what you say."

"It'll be a long time before any measure of sense gets past that thick skull," Tsunade said. "And with the pervert for a teacher..."

"Hey," said pervert exclaimed, feigning more annoyance than he actually felt, "what do I have to do with it?"

"You're the one who picks these idiots for students," the Hokage remarked.

The Copy Ninja smiled with a touch of embarrassment for his former student and his favourite book author, closing his one visible eye in the process.

Meanwhile, Naruto was feeling a little stung at the way they were talking about him (and in front of him, too!), so he crossed his arms and decided to sulk. By the time Tsunade had handed the sake cup over to her former teammate and started filling them in on the situation, though, he had forgotten all about it and was listening as attentively as the others.

"I asked you two to come back because last week I received a disturbing message from Earth Country," Tsunade said tersely, in full Hokage-mode. "It was very long-winded and full of bullshit, but, in short, the Tsuchikage claims that we've somehow wronged Iwa and demands reparation."

Jiraiya immediately groaned at the revealed identity of their enemy: he should have expected it. Iwa had been itching to get back at Konoha for close to fifteen years, because of the humiliating losses they had suffered during the last great war at the hands of the man they had nicknamed the Yellow Flash - the not-yet-appointed Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Konoha hadn't come out of that war untouched either - it was considered one of the bleakest periods in its history - but an Iwa ninja wouldn't be an Iwa ninja if they weren't as stubborn and proud as rocks, and capable of holding a grudge until the mountains themselves lost memory of the event.

"They are threatening to declare war, and you know what will happen if two of the great ninja villages break the world-wide peace pact at this point."

Jiraiya let his gaze slip down to the Hokage's clear desk and nodded. Political games had never been his favourites but that did not mean he didn't know the rules. "The remaining countries will either wait until we wear ourselves out and strike to conquer when we're at our weakest, or they'll line up to fight with us and it will be the beginning of a fourth world war."

Either outcome was grim, and Konoha already had more than enough on its plate, with the reappearance of Orochimaru, Sasuke's desertion and the sinister Akatsuki out to get Naruto.

"Hmm, their spies must have found out about what's been happening lately and, with a brand new Hokage still settling into her post, figured that we were finally vulnerable enough," Kakashi said.

"Wait," Naruto cut in, not having picked up on anything beyond the "Iwa wants war" part. "Can they do that? We didn't do anything to them, granny, did we?"

"Reasons don't matter here, Naruto," she explained, the tightness about her face relaxing a fraction. "Iwa can fabricate all the excuses they want and it won't matter if they're real or not. The only thing the other villages will be interested in is whether or not it's convenient for them to go along with it."

"So, what now?" Jiraiya continued, serious as he was rarely seen. He could always fill in the bits Naruto hadn't understood for him later. The most important was finding out if Tsunade had already made any decisions.

"Now, we talk. In his message, the Tsuchikage proposed a private meeting on neutral territory to discuss his terms and state his demands. It's obviously a ruse: I doubt he'd let go of the idea of getting revenge for anything we might offer. Maybe he just wants to gauge our strength, to see for himself what I'm capable of as Hokage, but this will be our only chance to dissuade him from going forward with this.

"I've already sent out teams of ANBU to scout out and secure the location," she continued. "If all goes well, we'll meet in five days' time, in Grass Country."

Hearing the name of the place, the toad summoner couldn't help but feel even more sceptical about the deal. He shot Tsunade a meaningful look that she carefully turned to avoid.

"Grass Country? The Tsuchikage wants to talk on the place where we struck the blow that brought Iwa to its knees all those years ago?" he said mockingly. Kakashi lowered his head in thought, too familiar with that particular event. It was the battle where he had gained his Sharingan.

"I agree with Jiraiya," the Copy Ninja said. "You shouldn't go."

"I know that it might be a trap," the Fifth insisted, "but I can't just refuse and sit by as they plan to destroy the village I swore to protect. That's why I asked you to come here today. I need you to hold the village and the Council together while I'm away."

Jiraiya looked down into his cup of sake and finally downed it after a resigned sigh.

"This was why I didn't want to take this job," he muttered. Then continued, so everyone could hear: "Fine. But Kakashi can handle things here by himself - I'm going with you."

Finally catching on to what was being decided, Naruto piped in as well. "Yeah, and me too! I'll keep you safe, granny!"

"You seem to be forgetting, brat, that the Akatsuki are still out looking for you," said Tsunade. "You're not going anywhere."

"What?! You can't do that! I can..."

Naruto would have gone on with his argument if Jiraiya hadn't placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. The old pervert was staring at the Hokage with a calculating look, so he remained silent and waited for his teacher to reveal his intentions.

"Maybe he should go," Jiraiya pondered aloud. "It wouldn't hurt to remind Iwa that Konoha has a very promising, very special new generation."

His inflection was not lost on Tsunade or Kakashi and soon they were going through the ramifications of what taking Naruto along might mean. After all, after the Chuunin Exams and with Akatsuki already about, his identity was hardly a well-kept secret anymore. It could not hurt to remind Iwa that they had the power of the Nine-tails on their side.

Sad as it was to think of Naruto that way - like the secret weapon so many on the Council had tried to turn him into - Tsunade had to admit that he was leverage that could help sway the mind of the Tsuchikage.

She hummed her assent.

"Let's hope it helps to stop this madness."

**IIIII**

The Tsuchikage was a severe and unbreakable-looking man in his fifties with greying hair and a beard that partially hid a deep scar on the side of his face. He wasn't very tall, even by the standards of the mountain people of Iwa, but his imposing presence could fill a room and cow any who dealt with him into submission.

He was the mighty leader of Iwagakure and his will was law within and sometimes beyond the boundaries of Earth Country. Any who dared to cross him could be certain that his retaliation would be swift - which was why his unfinished business with Konoha felt like a sharp bone, painfully lodged across the back of his throat for the past sixteen years.

Widowed mothers still told stories about the horrors of the Third Shinobi World War to their children and it pained him daily to see the newest generation of ninja bearing the weight of that shameful defeat on their shoulders. Unlike their fathers and grandfathers, who had worn their forehead protectors proudly, knowing in the superiority of their home, the young ones stood confident only as long as Konoha wasn't mentioned. There wasn't a person in Iwa who didn't simultaneously fear and hate the name "Yellow Flash", regardless of whether or not they had been around at the time of the war.

This angered the Tsuchikage and left him with only one possible course of action if he wanted to return Iwa to its former glory. He had to wipe the source of their humiliation off the map.

His determination was renewed as he looked at the ruins of an old bridge in the distance. Standing atop a grassy plateau in the middle of Grass Country, he could easily look down at the reddish-brown moss that had overtaken the concrete and iron remains of the large structure. The Tsuchikage briefly wondered if the colour had anything to do with the spilled blood of all the Iwa ninjas who had died there.

The greying man allowed himself a sigh before once again donning the stern face he needed to impress the Konoha representatives (which was, in fact, his most habitual expression even when in Iwa).

He was glad that the Hokage had come in person to the meeting, as per his request - he had a surprise for them and this would only make it better - but the fact that she had brought a child in her party rubbed him the wrong way. Were they implying that even their greenest could handle the best of Rock?

"These are our terms," he stated. "Konoha will have a month to comply and surrender unconditionally to the authority of Iwa. If you do not agree, then..." He trailed off, knowing that words were unnecessary.

In truth, he already knew that the tall Hokage with the unyielding golden eyes before him would never agree, but for now he had a part to play.

"That's ridiculous," Tsunade, the famed healer and recently appointed Fifth Hokage, said. "Konoha cannot agree to that!"

Concealed by the shade of his white and brown hat, the Tsuchikage held back the spiteful response that leapt to the tip of his tongue and cast another appraising glance at his surroundings. He had never been particularly patient, but he wanted to make sure that his plan went to perfection.

He was pleased not to find a single bent grass leaf in sight to betray the presence of all the other ninjas that he had ordered to hide around the meeting place. The small six man delegation from Konoha before him wouldn't even see them coming until it was too late.

"Let's cut the crap," Tsunade continued fiercely and the Tsuchikage had to give her credit for her boldness, annoying as it was. "We both know this has nothing to do with Konoha stealing clients from Iwa - this has petty revenge written all over it."

The Tsuchikage furiously fisted his hands, one at each side of his body, to keep himself from forming any handseals and attacking her there and then.

"You are mistaken."

"We suffered plenty of losses too," Tsunade forged on, trying her hardest not to think of Dan. "It was war, damn it! What gives you the right to think we owe you anything now?"

"Oh, but you do. And you will pay."

"You're really willing to sacrifice hundreds more over this...?"

Rather than answer the question, he turned to contemplate the four ninjas standing behind him, studying their features and scrutinising their stances. There wasn't a speck of uncertainty or weakness there.

The Hokage was losing her patience and so was he. It was time to put his plan in motion. Today would be the day Konoha lost its first ninjas to the new war, starting with their Hokage.

"Yes, I am. But if you're not, perhaps you'd like to offer your life instead of theirs?" he suggested.

The only reason Tsunade didn't huff was because she caught sight of Jiraiya holding back Naruto out the corner of her eye. The little brat must have rubbed off on her, if she was about to lose her composure over something like this.

"Again, that's ridiculous. Like I'd ever give myself up for execution."

"On the contrary," said the Tsuchikage. "What if we could settle this matter right here, once and for all?"

It was what Tsunade wanted. "Go on," she prompted, and if Jiraiya was discreetly shaking his head at her, she ignored him.

"I propose a one on one fight: Konoha's best against Iwa's. Whichever side wins, gets to decide what happens next."

It went unsaid that the fight would end when one of them lay dead on the ground, but no one needed to hear that to know that those were the terms.

It was an unusual arrangement, but one that Tsunade found herself contemplating nonetheless. If the Tsuchikage kept his word and Iwa lost the match, the benefits would be huge. On the other hand, if Konoha lost... not only would they be without an Hokage - because Tsunade wouldn't let such responsibility fall on anyone's shoulders but hers -, but her village would have to fight a bloody war at a disadvantage.

The Hokage could feel Jiraiya's eyes boring into her, willing her to look his way and hear out what he had to say. Undoubtedly, he was ready to volunteer himself or give her more warnings against trusting the Tsuchikage, so she ignored him and decided to study the Iwa delegation instead.

The four escorting the Tsuchikage looked as compliant and forbidding as all Iwa ninja should, like deadly puppets whose will was ready to be molded by their leader. Three of them bore slightly hateful expressions, while the fourth hid his features behind a white mask. That one looked to be the youngest of the group and Tsunade guessed that he had probably grown up hearing tales about the monster that was Konoha.

How did things get so messed up, she asked herself. It had been almost fifteen years since the war had ended, longer than Naruto had been alive. How could this hatred have festered for so long and come back after all these years to torment a generation that had nothing to do with it?

Was that masked escort as young as Naruto? Was he also being forced to fight for a cause that he knew nothing of because of obligation to his village?

Tsunade observed the Tsuchikage once more, this time puting all of her medical expertise to use. He was starting to be considered old, by ninja standards, and the harsh Iwa climate had probably aggravated the usual malaises that came with age. He walked slowly, a possible indication that his joints weren't as good as they used to be, but his blocky, compact build was evidence that he hadn't neglected his training. He was probably the type to stay in one place during a fight and rely on long-distance ninjutsu and, since he was from Iwa, Tsunade figured that his favourite techniques would be earth-based and extremely destructive.

He looked tough, but Tsunade was confident in her skills. She was sure that she could handle him, just as she knew that he would be her challenger. For the Tsuchikage to name another as "the best of Iwa" was unthinkable. He was too proud.

"I accept," Tsunade said before she could change her mind. She heard some angry shuffling coming from somewhere behind her - Jiraiya, most likely - but she kept her eyes on the Tsuchikage.

If he was indeed hiding something, as she suspected, now would be the time to be on the lookout.

"Arashi!!" he shouted, and the masked ninja Tsunade had appraised earlier stepped forward. "Arashi will be fighting on Iwa's behalf. Choose your champion, Konoha!"

Tsunade tried not to let surprise show on her face as she retreated to confer with the rest of her group. The constitution of the ninja she would have to fight had nothing to do with that of the Iwa leader. He was younger, limber, and the very fact that the Tsuchikage had considered him the strongest spoke volumes about how dangerous he'd be.

"I'll fight him," Jiraiya stated in a low but no less intense voice as soon as she was in hearing range. "You're a healer, I'm the grunt. I'll fight."

"No, Jiraiya," she said. "This is too big. As Hokage, I can't let anyone else do this."

"Damn it, don't you start getting a sense of responsibility now! Konoha needs you. You're too important to risk your life like this. I'll fight!"

Tsunade looked at Naruto, who was unusually quiet. He seemed calm on the outside, but she imagined that on the inside he would be feeling out of his depth in more ways than one. He only knew how to fight an enemy head-on, so this political manoeuvering and bargaining was something he'd never had to deal with before.

She had seen him take on Orochimaru and Kabuto and heard the account of how he'd went up against the One-Tailed Raccoon during the invasion of Konoha. Naruto had been fearless when he would have been expected to cower and that had allowed him to prevail against enemies much stronger than him. Tsunade would take a page from his book now and follow his example.

"No. I can do this," the Hokage determined.

Jiraiya sighed in grim resignation and wished her good luck. Before she turned back to head up to the Tsuchikage, he offered a last piece of advice, hoping it would make a difference and help her even the odds: "he's going to be fast. His build reminds me of Minato. Try to hamper his movements and immobilise him if you can."

"Beat that guy to the ground, granny!"

Naruto's grin exuded confidence and somehow that warmth instantly infected Tsunade. She couldn't lose now, not with that kid's vibrant cheer pushing her on. When she faced the Tsuchikage again, a similar smile was dancing on her lips and her Will of Fire was flaring in her golden gaze.

"I'll be representing Konoha, as it's only appropriate." She couldn't resist adding in the slight insult to the Tsuchikage, but he didn't seem at all bothered by it. In fact, he smiled too.

"Arashi," he began in a conversational tone, his eyes never leaning Tsunade's. "You're going up against a Kage. It's a tough opponent. Maybe you should take off your mask, so it doesn't disturb you."

Tsunade was too focused on matching wills with the greying Tsuchikage to catch a glimpse of more than a movement from the young ninja that indicated he had complied with his leader's request. It wasn't until she heard a very confused cry coming from Jiraiya that she wondered if there might not be more behind the Iwa ninja's smug words. She took a look herself. What she found rendered her momentarily speechless.

She'd already seen the yellow hair, but the stone-set face and the cold blue eyes she found minutely analysing her were all too disturbingly familiar yet out of place in someone wearing a Iwa uniform.

"Minato!?"


	3. Relapse 1

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I must have read your kind words a thousand times, hehe. ;)**

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**03: Relapse - part 1**

For the longest second in his life, Jiraiya felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. Where he was and why stopped mattering, and all the reasons in the world didn't seem enough for him to tear his gaze away from the impossible but exhilarating sight before him. Maybe he was dead - or rather, he had to be, and the slight detail that he hadn't even noticed it happen would not convince him otherwise. His dead student was standing in front of him, moving and looking as alive as the toad summoner was sure he himself had been up until moments ago.

Then his senses caught up to him. There were other people there next to him and, for the sake of his sanity, he had to believe that no matter how badly he'd screwed up throughout his life, the gods wouldn't be so cruel as to make him share the next world with someone like the Tsuchikage. That, and he noticed that, shock or no shock, he really needed to resume breathing.

He was not the only one to reach that conclusion. Next to him, someone took a sharp intake of breath that helped to finally drive the hermit back to reality. It was Naruto.

"Hey, Pervy Sage... is that...?" the blond didn't finish his sentence, probably fearful of speaking his thoughts out loud in case he was wrong.

That was what was currently going through Jiraiya's mind, after all. In fact, the white-haired man was already bracing himself for the devastating disappointment that was sure to follow once he really came down from the temporary high. Regardless, the toad summoner understood what Naruto was trying to ask: was the blond enemy ninja standing by the Tsuchikage's side the Fourth Hokage?

"It can't be him," he answered with as much conviction as he could muster. It couldn't have been much because, somewhere inside him, he could feel the tiny worm of a ludicrous hope struggling to survive.

"But he looks just like him, doesn't he?" Naruto persisted and for the first time since they'd met, Jiraiya wished that the kid would shut up for good. He couldn't bear to keep feeding that squirming something in his heart that made him want to believe in what couldn't be real.

Naruto had a habit of talking too much and it wasn't unusual for the older man to urge him to be quiet. It had always been the "I'm telling you to shut up so I can hear your cute angry retorts" type of shushing, but now, the older man was surprising himself with how viciously that thought had come to him. It was as if his deep longing for the return of his older student was overriding everything he felt for his newer one, to the point where he wouldn't hesitate to cast Naruto aside for the prospect of seeing Minato again.

His chest constricted with guilt as he realised how easily he was discarding Naruto - one more unforgivable failing to add to his already extensive list as a man and as his godfather. The guilt did not come alone, though, and Jiraiya was soon neck-deep in the pond of disappointment in which he had been living for longer than he cared to admit.

"He..." his voice broke, "he's dead. And this guy looks too young." Under his breath, he added, "There don't seem to be any animation or illusion techniques cast on him..."

As his hopes faded, he remembered that Tsunade still had to fight. She was about to risk her life in a desperate attempt to keep the village from going to war. He only hoped that his old teammate was dealing with this surprising turn of events better than him or she wouldn't stand a chance.

Vague ideas were spinning around Jiraiya's mind as he tried to find a reasonable explanation for what he was seeing (surely, the young Iwa ninja who had insultingly taken on Minato's face had undergone some sort of plastic surgery to alter his appearance), when Naruto once again catapulted his thoughts to the present.

"What a weird-looking kunai," he said. Curious about what he meant, the toad summoner looked back to the centre of the action, where the Tsuchikage had apparently just drawn something from the folds of his white robe.

For the second time in under a minute, the white-haired man's mind drew a blank and he was left briefly wondering how many more surprises he could take.

The blade with the three points, the rolled-up scroll with undecipherable symbols on the handle... It looked rusty and worn, but the sight was so crushingly familiar to Jiraiya that there were no doubts in his mind whether or not it was authentic. Hanging from one of the Tsuchikage's fingers by the loop at the end of the handle, was one of the sealed kunai that was the key to the technique that only Minato had ever been able to use - Hiraishin.

What was going on?, Jiraiya asked himself.

**IIIII**

Tsunade was asking pretty much the same questions.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded of the Iwa ninjas.

The face of the strange Minato look-alike remained blank as he ignored the outburst and took the special kunai from the Tsuchikage's grasp. He casually started twirling it in his hand, moving away from his fellow countrymen, and once he'd reached the centre of the plateau, at a safe distance from both parties, all he did was turn to regard Tsunade.

The slug summoner did not like to see those eyes on her. They were cold and straight-to-the-point: exactly like her teammate's lively student's had been when on assignment.

"I'll ask again, Tsuchikage! What is going on here!?"

"Why, I thought you had already understood the terms of our agreement," the grey-haired man replied with an innocent tone. The fierce glint in his eyes spoke of a different story, though. "I chose Arashi to represent Iwa. Follow through on your end, Konoha!"

Suddenly, she regreted taking the Tsuchikage's challenge. She had known from the start that he had been hiding something and it had been naïve of her to think that she could keep the unknown under control. There was no guessing how events would turn out now and her village would be severely handicapped in the coming war if she fell. She was more interested in learning more about that young man than fighting him now, but she could see that none of the Iwa ninjas were about to talk.

The blond kept twirling the kunai expectantly in his hand. There was nothing Tsunade could do except join him.

Her knee wobbled a bit the first step she took. It crossed her mind that maybe this kind of apprehension was exactly what the Iwa ninjas had experienced during the Third Shinobi War, knowing that the Yellow Flash was out there. That thought cleared as soon as she took another step, though, and another, and her confidence was quickly restored.

Minato or not, she was going to fight and win. She was the Hokage and had an entire village counting on her.

"I don't know who you are," she told the blond, "but you have a lot of nerve showing up here, looking like that. I'm going to teach you a lesson, boy!"

"You can try," he answered, callous, putting away the kunai. Tsunade's words had as much effect on him as a wave beating against an unmovable stone wall.

The disrespectful little brat was going down!, Tsunade swore. She could beat the answers she wanted out of him afterwards.

Remembering Jiraiya's advice, she immediately started directing chakra into her hands. Invisible to the naked eye, thin chakra blades extended from each of her fingertips - a technique she'd picked up after meeting Kabuto. This fight would most likely be settled in close quarters, so her first priority was to make sure that every ligament in his legs was torn so he couldn't move.

Their eyes met and an unspoken understanding passed between them. The fight was on.

The look-alike immediately disappeared from sight with a fast sprint, and it was only thanks to experience that Tsunade was able to recognise the slight breeze on her left for what it was and dodge the incoming punch. Her hands reached for that extended arm, but it was already too late. He was rolling across her back to try to attack her other side.

The little bastard was testing her reaction time, she realised. With a small smile, she spun around with him and threw a punch at exactly the same time he did. His face wasn't as composed when his frail forearm had to absorb the full impact of the Hokage's monstrous strength combined with the chakra scalpel technique and he quickly put some distance between them to assess the damage.

Tsunade let him go and watched with satisfaction as he tried to clench his fist, only to find that none of his fingers were capable of responding.

"I'm Hokage, kid. You're going to have to do better than that."

No sooner had she said those words that he vanished again. This time, no wind was fast enough to warn her of where he was coming from next. Tsunade's legs were swept from under her. She tried to position her upper body so she could safely roll away as soon as she hit the ground, but before there was an impact, an upward strike came to her stomach and then another fell down on her shoulders.

She was left lying on the ground, feeling a bit like an abused puppet. A burning sensation had spread across her back and down her arms. Her muscles were throbbing like they'd been infused with liquid-hot metal and it felt like her tendons would snap at the least attempt to move. She managed to lift her head, but didn't have time to start a self-diagnostic technique to find out what was wrong before another priority came up: evading the kunai that was flying straight towards her.

She heard something being shouted in the distance and knew at once that it had come from Naruto. Although her blood was pulsing too loudy on her ears for her to make out the words, she was sure it was some cry of encouragement. He was rooting for her, she reminded herself... and so was all of Konoha.

The slug summoner stood up and batted away the incoming kunai like it was no more than a pesky bug. The pain was excruciating, though. Like every muscle in her upper body had just been torn from the bone, although she knew that that was physically impossible. Glaring at the blond who had his good hand deep in his weapons pouch a few meters away, reaching for something else to throw, she decided to take a chance.

"No," Jiraiya muttered when he saw his former teammate rushing her opponent. "Don't take stupid risks. He hasn't even gotten serious yet..."

Next to him, Naruto was just about a moment away from leaping into the fray himself. Jiraiya's arm around him was the only thing keeping him in place. If the old pervert hadn't grabbed him when Tsunade had gone down, he would have already gone to make sure that that stupid Iwa ninja was history!

The emotions of the players on the other side of the field were quite different. Rather than concern about the outcome, the Tsuchikage was mostly feeling impatience. Regardless of how much fun it was to see the Hokage flailing, he thought Arashi should just take her out. He had been ordered to kill, and kill he should - honour code be damned. An enemy like Konoha did not deserve any other kind of treatment.

Tsunade tried to hit the blond Iwa ninja with a series of quick punches and jabs. Her chakra was still focused on her hands, so all it would take to cause damage was a grazing shot. As her hits were once and again evaded or deflected, though, it became increasingly apparent that she simply wasn't fast enough. The blond saw through every one of her moves with ease and reacted accordingly, so there was no way for her to just overwhelm him with taijutsu. She'd have to come up with a different tactic.

She interrupted her assault to throw a punch at the ground in front of her. The land cracked apart under Arashi's feet from her devastating force, nearly causing his legs to be trapped in the gaps. Seizing the opportunity where her opponent was distracted, Tsunade quickly redirected her fists at him. To her dismay, he recovered quickly, leaping over the gaps and using the blocks of earth as stepping stones. He slapped her arms away every time they got too close.

A faint sizzling sound was all the warning she had before a small explosive tag went off on her arm. It was small enough that all it did was cause pain and a burn, but effective enough in that it caught her off guard and left her completely open to a counter-attack. Before she could reform any kind of stance, Arashi had manoeuvred around her and forced her down on her knees in a headlock.

His hold around her neck was tight, no air making it past the compressed larynx. Tsunade didn't panic. Taking advantage of the fact he was behind her, she covertly formed a quick sequence of seals and grabbed the arm suffocating her.

Her chakra immediately latched on to her opponent's nervous system and she forced it to go all the way up to the brain, where the region that controlled motor skills was located. She had just reached it and was about to zap him with a chakra-generated electrical discharge that would wreck his control over his body movements when he disappeared.

One moment he was there, the next he wasn't. No wind or clouds of smoke to indicate that it had been a clone and no continuity of movement to indicate that he had simply stepped back. Hiraishin, her mind supplied. If he was going to start using that now, she was done for. And to make things worse, she wasn't even sure if her half-executed technique had had any effect.

From the sidelines, Jiraiya was dumbfounded. He recognised the Hiraishin, Minato's prized Flying Thunder God technique, but he was sure that the kid still had the kunai with the special seal on him. His thoughts were confirmed when, right after materialising a couple of meters away from Tsunade with a flash of yellow, distorted light, he clearly saw the young man reach into his weapons pouch and take out the three-pronged kunai from it.

That wasn't the way Hiraishin was supposed to work - the seal had to be planted at the destination before the technique was activated. This Iwa ninja was even more dangerous than they'd guessed if he could teleport at will just by holding the tagged kunai.

Meanwhile, Arashi was starting to get annoyed by the Hokage's tactics. He'd approached the fight with caution, knowing that she would be powerful and resourceful, but after getting zapped twice by techniques that made his body stop responding, he was getting tired of playing. First his hand had stopped working and now she'd forced him to use his secret technique to avoid something similar from affecting his whole body.

He shook off the after-effects of her latest move. His body took a couple of seconds until it responded normally again, but fortunately he'd been on time to escape the real damage. It was long enough for Tsunade to pull herself back to her feet.

He took a moment to study her golden gaze. She was panting lightly, but determined and strong in her own right. Had he been anyone else, he would have already suffered the brunt of more than one of her devastating punches. He was sure that one would have been more than enough to knock him out and potentially break a few bones. Ultimately, though, every fight was unique in that the strongest could come across an enemy with a skill set that rendered them weak. Such was the case with the Hokage. He'd seen enough to know that she had no way to defend against his speed.

Knowing that, Arashi decided that it was time to end the fight and do as his Tsuchikage had ordered. He'd been holding back, as he'd always been taught that the honourable way to fight one on one was to always give the adversary a fighting chance. Now he realised, though, that no matter how much he held back, she would always be too slow.

He'd use his greatest technique and give her a good death.

Focusing on the kunai on the palm of his hand, Arashi teleported right next to the Hokage. His arm was drawn back, ready to come down in an arch across Tsunade's throat. The momentum of the rapid movement would have been enough to make the kill, but when combined with Arashi's own strength and the sharpness of the weapon, it resulted in one deadly strike.

Tsunade tried to lift her arms, tried to defend somehow, but the blond was too close and too fast for her to have time to escape. Her only hope, she knew, was to release the seal on her forehead at the exact time the strike connected.

The slash bled profusely. After a brief contemplation of just how much blood she was covered in - hedious, horrendous, bright red blood - Tsunade felt herself become too light-headed for thought. She closed her eyes and let gravity take over.

The Hokage fell.

A satisfied smile spread across the Tsuchikage's face as Arashi stepped back and the sight of his greatest enemy's defeat became visible to him. On the other side of the plateau, however, the situation was radically different. Jiraiya and Naruto had started sprinting towards Tsunade as soon as they'd realised what was going to happen.

The toad sage knelt next to her, head lowered over her chest. Ironically, since this was the first time in his life he'd gotten so close to that plentiful bosom, perverted thoughts were the last thing on his mind. He was completely focused on discerning if there was still a pulse.

Naruto stared on in shock. Granny Tsunade was dead... and the guy responsible for that was standing right behind him.


	4. Relapse 2

**A/N: Ok, it's official - I hate the way this fic is turning out. The problem is, if I go back and rewrite it now, there's a good chance I'll disgust myself into not finishing it, so I'd rather forge ahead and then rip it apart afterwards if I still feel like it. That said, apologies for the crappy writing and I hope you can enjoy the story, at least.**

* * *

**04: Relapse - part 2**

"You bastard!" Jiraiya heard Naruto shout before he realised just what it was his knuckle-headed student intended to do. Crossing his fingers into a familiar hand-seal, the little genin was populating the plateau with dozens of copies of himself, all bearing the same enraged scowl and all equally willing to cause serious damage to one certain Iwa ninja.

The Minato look-alike seemed unperturbed by the display. He tilted his head as if wondering whether or not the kid was a threat. He took stock of the number and position of all the orange-clad clones and waited for the next move.

His eyes were as clear and as dead as Jiraiya remembered them being in Minato's final pictures before burial, and a shudder ran down his spine. He didn't know if it was horror or excitement at seeing his late student again.

"You're supposed to be the Fourth!" one of the Narutos said. "How could you hurt granny Tsunade?!"

There was a moment's pause where Arashi stared down the clone who had addressed him. He had no idea what the kid was going on about - the Fourth? - but he was obviously very disturbed about what had happened to the Hokage.

No sooner had he thought that, the clones decided to strike.

They came from all sides packed into groups, but their attacks were straight-forward and easy to predict. Arashi had no trouble getting rid of them with strategically placed wind techniques that cut through and dispelled dozens of clones at a time. He almost felt sorry for the kid. He had guts and the sheer amount of clones he could produce without losing any strength was indication of massive raw potential. He could become a very dangerous adversary in the future - unfortunately, he doubted the kid would ever get that far. He'd get himself killed very soon if, even after seen Arashi fight a Kage, the best he could do was attack his opponents with tactics unbefitting a genin.

He had already made quick work of the majority of the orange-clad copies, when his instincts alerted him that there was danger coming from behind. Two clones holding a yellow sphere of swirling chakra were almost on him.

The technique surprised Arashi - it looked almost exactly like a one-handed technique he had created himself years ago. How the youth could have known about it, though, was beyond him. He dodged the pair and used their momentum against them to destroy both them and a portion of the rest of the crowd.

Taking advantage of the brief lull in the battle as the kid and his copies reorganised themselves, he glanced at his Iwa companions and realised that they had engaged in similar fights against the Anbu who had been escorting the Konoha delegation. Beyond them, removed from the fray, he could see the Tsuchikage looking over his troops with satisfaction. Arashi remembered the orders the man had given to his escorts on their way to the meeting then: "kill them all if you get the chance."

Technique after technique, the clones disappeared until only one little blond remained in front of him. "Lucky kid," Arashi reflected, "but not for long." He leapt at the teenager, taking a plain kunai out of his pouch with his good arm and preparing to stab him in one of his vital points. It would be so much for the promising, stupid little ninja.

His blade came away bloody, but the cut had been shallow. The kid had been pushed aside by the remaining member of the Konoha group - the middle-aged man who had been at the Hokage's side - and Arashi's arm restrained by a thick knot of white hair.

"Minato, what are you doing?" the stranger was saying. "How is it that..."

"You have me confused with someone else, old man," Arashi interrupted. "I don't know anyone by the name of Minato."

He was getting angry. First the Hokage had wanted to know who he was, then the kid had called him the Fourth and now this old man was confusing him with someone named Minato. He knew enough of Konoha's history to put the pieces together and realise who they apparently thought him to be, and there wasn't a ninja in Iwa who wouldn't be offended at being likened to the murderous demon that had been Konoha's Yellow Flash.

"How can you say that?! You look just like..." Jiraiya tried to object, but he was cut off once again. This time by a different source.

"Stop..." a raspy voice came from behind and all eyes turned towards where the Hokage had been lying.

Tsunade was slowly getting up. The front of her clothes was bathed in red, but the most remarkable features about her were the menacing black markings spread all over her face.

"Tsuchikage," she called out, breathing heavily. "Konoha concedes this match to Iwa. I believe that settles this matter."

"It is war between us, then," the grey man wearing the white hat of Earth country declared with a smirk. He wasn't pleased that Arashi had failed to end the blond woman's life, but that could be easily remedied yet.

With a flick of his wrist, all three of his escorts drew weapons and readied themselves for a definitive strike. Up in the surrounding hills, numerous ninjas were coming out of hiding, emerging from the ground like undead creatures intent on killing everyone in their way.

Likewise, on Konoha's side, many more white-masked Anbu and jounin that hadn't revealed themselves yet were suddenly standing by on their Hokage's command. They outnumbered the Iwa ninjas by at least three to one, and it brought a smirk of her own to Tsunade's face to see that the Tsuchikage hadn't seen that coming.

"What's it going to be, Iwa? Do you want to turn this place into the first massacre site of the new war, or do we just each retreat peacefully to our villages, as only appropriate after a diplomatic meeting?"

It was through nothing more than will-power that Tsunade held the other man's glare and kept herself from trembling. Releasing the seal on her forehead had taken every drop of energy she had left out of her and she was currently praying that the Tsuchikage would fold before the after-effects kicked in. Very soon, her illusion of youth and power would falter.

Her prayers were heard, and as the Tsuchikage and his entourage dropped out of view, Tsunade let herself fall to her knees, feeling the first wrinkles form on her face.

"Will you be all right?" Jiraiya was immediately at her side, with Naruto on the other.

"I'll live," she laughed. "What about you?"

The white-haired hermit had not been injured but he did not need to question what she meant.

"I don't know. I guess I need to think, make some sense of what we saw here today."

"Do you think he really was..." Tsunade stopped herself, opting instead to brace herself on Naruto's and Jiraiya's shoulders while she got back on her feet to set back to their home as the Tsuchikage had done.

Jiraiya didn't meet her eyes. He was sombre as he was rarely seen.

"I don't know," he repeated.

**IIIII**

The wooden stick came down fast on Arashi's back, and the blond tensed his muscles and bit the inside of his cheek in preparation to take it. Behind his white mask, his face contorted in pain as the repeated strikes tore into his flesh, but none of that was visible on the outside. That was what mattered.

"I am most disappointed in you, Arashi," the Tsuchikage said as he motioned for the punishment to stop. "Your orders were to take out the Hokage, and instead of carrying out my wishes, you decided to play around and give those Konoha dogs a chance to fight back. You put us all at risk by letting them injure you."

Arashi was already kneeling in front of the man, but he did his best to flatten himself further, offering himself up to his Tsuchikage's mercy. He did not trust himself to speak.

"Not only did your failure insult the might of Iwa, it embarrassed me personally! Your disobedience forced me to order a retreat, to show my back and run away!"

"I beg your forgiveness, Lord Tsuchikage. It will not happen again," Arashi promised, mask pressed against the ground and voice raspy from the strain.

For a moment there was silence and Arashi thought that the punishment might resume when he heard the Tsuchikage's robes rustle in front of him. The pain did not come, however, and instead he felt a rough hand hold his chin to try to get him to look up. The most powerful man in Iwa was crouching in front of him and looking at him with desolate eyes.

"You're special. You know that, don't you, Arashi?" he asked and the young ninja felt his heart shatter at how badly he had failed this great man. "You also know that we can't start this war without you. I need you, Arashi, and I need to know that next time you will do exactly as I say, when I say."

"Forgive me, Lord Tsuchikage..." the blond whispered, close to tears at his dishonor.

"Do not disappoint me again, Arashi," he warned, before rising to his feet again. For the moment, he was satisfied with his little weapon's display of submission. He couldn't be too careful handling him - after all, he was playing with fire.

One more hand gesture was enough for the punishment to continue. It wouldn't hurt to ingrain his lessons of loyalty into the young man a little further.

Arashi's screams followed the leader of Iwa out the door and they kept filling the underground cell for some time afterwards. Two thoughts were at the forefront of his mind, as he attempted to distract himself from the painful lashing.

One was his promise to his Tsuchikage. He would never again let down that great man who shouldered the burdens of the entire village, who took on his people's suffering as his own and whose only desire was to protect and keep their home safe.

The second wasn't as heart-warming or as bolstering. Arashi had orders to wear his white mask at all times, even in his sleep, and to not let anyone who did not have the Tsuchikage's permission see him without it. It was odd that he had been ordered to remove it in his fight against the Hokage and the way the Konoha delegation had reacted at the sight of him was odder still. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but it had made him curious.


End file.
